Flesh Circus

The blinds twitched and one moved aside slightly. The shape in the window was Galina, her marcel-waved hair an immaculate cap as always. Her green eyes sparked as the sheet of etheric energy folding over her shop changed slightly, like light refracting through a waterfall. Even my dumb eye could sense the reverberations, watering and tingling. The scar prickled.

“She looks worried,” Saul murmured.

“No shit,” I muttered back. Inside her shop, Galina’s will is law—she is, after all, a Sanctuary. But anything could happen on the way up to her doorstep.

And who knew what was waiting for us around here? It wasn’t like her to call more than once. They all know the drill, everyone who dials me—I’ll get around to you sooner or later, unless I’m being shot, strangled, knifed, electrocuted, thrown off a building, or doing anything else fun and interesting.

I opened the door cautiously. The bell jingled. I stepped carefully through the curtain of Sanc warding.

“Thank God.” She was in her robes, the pigeon-throat gray shifting and the mark of the Order—a silver medallion, the quartered circle inside a serpent’s hoop, snake eating its own tail—at her throat. I gave the shop a quick glance—nothing visible. I relaxed fractionally, didn’t reholster the gun. Something was off here. “You won’t need that, Jill, I’ve got everything—”

“Is it her?” A rumble of Helletöng slid under the words, and the windows chattered, both with Galina’s wordless shout and the lash of a hellbreed’s voice.

Coming from inside.

Usually, my instinct would be to dive away from something like that. This time, though, I pitched forward, my shoulder smacking hard against the bottom of a display case ru

The Ringmaster held his cane like a staff, the crystal at its head spitting with venomous green as he stood next to the cash register. His eyes ran with wet orange hellfire. His hair was lifting on a slight screaming breeze from nowhere, standing up in wet black spikes. This time he was in a battered red velvet coat and actual jodhpurs, but it didn’t make him look ridiculous.

No, he looked like he belonged on a carton of animal crackers. A really twisted, ugly carton sopping with blood and other nasty liquids.

“We came to this town in good faith, hunter.” The faint lines on the ridge of bone masquerading as teeth were grimed with something dark. “We came to cleanse and to—”

“Stand down.” My voice sliced through his. Behind me, Saul’s warning growl rose, rattling the entire place no less than Galina’s anger or the wave of hellbreed agitation. “This is a Sanctuary. Calm the fuck down.”

“Both of you.” The air hardened under Galina’s words. “You. Stand over there, or I will send you back to Hell. I’m not joking.”

“She isn’t, you know.” This was Perry, who stood with his back to the rest of us, bending down to peer inside a glass display case that held several crystal balls, mummified alligators, and a stacked display of Etteila tarot cards. Something rippled on his back, under the white linen suit jacket. “I suggest you calm yourself.”

“What the hell’s going on?” I didn’t lower the gun, and Galina’s walls ran with rivulets of etheric force, cascading in sheets. The lightshow was amazing, but it could just as easily turn on me as on the hellbreed. “Galina?”

“Stand over there.” Her voice rang like a gong, and the Ringmaster grudgingly paced to the exact spot she pointed to on the hardwood floor, his thin body twitching with mutiny. His hair actually writhed, the spikes touching each other with little balloon-squealing sounds. The fraying nap of his red velvet coat crawled with corruption-dust, and his fingers twisted and twitched.

Galina gave me a meaningful look, and I slowly, slowly lowered my guns. The glass shards on the floor stirred, quivering. “Someone give me a vowel.”

“We are in a very special place right now, Kismet.” Perry still didn’t turn to face any of us. “Let us absorb the full implications.”

“Where have you been, hunter?” The Ringmaster jabbed his cane at me, the crystal popping off one diseased-green spark. “We came here in good faith!”

“I’ve been chasing a child-killer and doing exorcisms.” Every nerve in my body cried out in protest when I holstered the guns. “More than enough fun and games to keep me busy. Whatever’s happened to you, I’m not involved with it.” I licked my dry lips. Saul straightened from his crouch behind me. It was good to feel him there, even while I was worrying about two hellbreed in front of me and the look on Galina’s face. “Yet.”

“There has been an attack.” Perry finally turned, slowly, and it was almost a relief to see him still wearing his blond, bland face. He was also gri

That was good news. How good remained to be seen. “Attack?” That was the bad news. “What kind of attack?”

“A Cirque performer, my dear.” Perry stuffed his hands in his pockets and tilted his blond head. It ruined the lines of his suit, but I suppose he thought it made him look less dangerous. Or something. “A certain fortune-teller appears to have gone to collect her eternal reward. With some help, I might add.”

For a few seconds the words refused to make sense. Then they slammed home, and I took a deep breath. My face felt very cold, and I suspected I’d gone even paler than my usual night-working fishbelly. “You’re kidding.” It was the only thing I could think of to say.

“You see?” Perry’s grin didn’t alter in the slightest. “I vouch for her shock, brother. My Kismet is altogether too intelligent for such a blatant act.”

“Shut up, Hyperion.” The Ringmaster’s cane dipped. He watched me, his orange gaze swirling with dust and crawling all down my body. “You will swear you had no part in this, hunter?”

“For Christ’s sake.” I resisted the urge to draw a knife, or better yet, limber my gun up and make the world a better place with a few well-placed headshots. “The hostage is your good behavior. Why the hell would I want to attack any of your people?” Other than their being hellbreed, which is enough reason to seriously tempt me.

“To erase the rest of—” The Ringmaster’s eyes flicked toward Perry, who pursed his lips. A number of things occurred to me just then, and I actually had to stuff my tongue into my cheek and bite down to keep from making a snarky comment.

They were actually thinking I’d go after the entire Cirque, given enough reason. But the Ringmaster wouldn’t be so upset unless he seriously thought I had a chance at actually pulling it off.

It was an unintentional compliment. Being feared by hellbreed isn’t a nice thing, but it’s damn useful, and pleasant when it can smooth your way a little bit.

My heart rate eased a little bit. Saul crowded closer behind me. The bell on the door jangled slightly, thrumming under the murderous tension. Galina relaxed, fractionally.

“All right.” I tried not to sound relieved. “This is the first I’ve heard about an attack on the Cirque—which I consider just as bad news for me as it is for you. I give you my word I have nothing to do with it. But I’m about to.” I took a deep breath. My pulse smoothed out a little bit more, and my eyes skipped between the two ’breed, each of them vibrating with barely controlled rage. Perry hid it better, but I’ve been around him too much, for too long, to trust his outward appearance. “I’ve got some business to transact with my Sanctuary, here. Then I’ll be out at the Cirque to take a look at what’s going on. I’ll find out who’s behind this and take appropriate action. In the meantime, you’ll keep your noses clean.” Put the sting in the tail, Jill. “Perry, you’ll meet me at the Cirque.”